BRITISH life at the turn of the 19th century wasn’t all parlour games and church visits.

Maxine Peake takes the title role in The Secret Diaries Of Miss Anne Lister and is hoping the drama, based on the true story of lesbian Anne Lister, will offer a different view of the period to that offered by the books of Jane Austen.

Peake, who has read the four million-word diaries, says: “I was surprised how modern they sounded, you think everything was so restrained.

“Obviously she was an exception and lived her life by different rules. But when you read about the social every day existence, the parties and drinking, you think, ‘Wow it wasn’t as stuffy as I thought’. You see Austen and that’s become our perception, based purely on one view of it.”

Lister eschewed the social norms of the time and, rather than settling down to marriage and housekeeping, pursued relationships with women, and enjoyed activities such as coal-mining and shooting. She even became the first woman to climb Mont Perdu in the Pyrenees.

When Peake, known for playing loud-mouthed Veronica in Shameless and her heart-wrenching performance as a victim of violence in Criminal Justice, found out they were making a drama about Lister’s life, she jumped at the chance.

“I heard about the role through a friend. He knew nothing more about her apart from she was a traveller and an industrialist,” the Bolton-born actress explains.

“So I got onto my agent. I thought, ‘That sounds brilliant, a strong female character’. It’s so nice to hear of parts for women which aren’t just about chasing men, shopping and eating lettuce.”

Peake learnt she had got the part while ‘sunning myself on holiday’ and launched into researching the role, ordering books and meeting up with historian and Anne Lister expert Helena Whitbread.

The actress was amazed she hadn’t heard of the landowner – known as ‘the first modern lesbian’ – before.

“A couple of lesbian friends had heard of her through lesbian literature, but I hadn’t. It’s weird it’s just been assigned to lesbian, gay literature and you think, ‘Why is that?’ she says.

“It’s got broad appeal and especially as I think we’re lacking in positive female role models now. If Anne Lister wanted to do something she just went and did it – she’s truly inspirational.”

But it came at a price. Lister was hounded and called ‘Gentleman Jack’ by her Halifax neighbours, and the love of her life, Mariana Belcombe, left her for the financial – and social – security of marriage to a man. The relationship between the two, charted explicitly in the diaries in a code that took 150 years to solve, is central to the drama.

“I panicked about playing her at first,” Peake admits. “She is such an important figure and as she’s very much part of the lesbian and gay culture and you want to do a good job, you’re representing a group of people, so I didn’t want them to go, ‘Oh no, I don’t believe for a minute’.”

Luckily, director James Kent and Whitbread were on hand to offer support and encouragement. It might also have helped that Dean Lennox Kelly, Peake’s husband in Shameless, has a role.

“I was shocked when I heard who they had got on board,” she smiles. “It obviously caught a lot of people’s imaginations. Kev and Veronica reunited! It was great to work with Dean again playing completely different characters. We had to try not to go into, ‘Kev, you idiot what the hell do you think you’re doing?”’

In fact, Peake claims the lesbian love scenes were far easier for her to tackle than what she had to do on Shameless (apart from the sex scenes, Veronica’s many exploits included digging up a dead body, and trying to buy a baby in Romania).

“I found the intimate scenes fine,” she says. “Anna Madeley, who plays Mariana, was great and we just went for it. After Shameless I’m not frightened of doing anything, so it was no problem.”